Table 1 Populations, samples size (N), references and GenBank accession numbers for original sequence data

Populations	N	Reference	GenBank accession number
Corsicans–Sardinians
Centre Corsica (Corte area)	47	Varesi et al. (2000)
Trexenta (South-Sardinia)	47	Present study^a	DQ081669–DQ081715
Sant’ Antioco island (South-Sardinia)	42	Present study^a	DQ081522–DQ081563
Northern Sardinia (Gallura province)	50	Present study^a	DQ081420–DQ081469
Central Sardinia (Nuoro province)	52	Present study^a	DQ067827–DQ067877
San Pietro island (South-Sardinia)	44	Present study^a	DQ081564–DQ081607
Southern Corsica (Bonifacio area)	53	Present study^a	DQ081367–DQ081419
Iberians
Galice	92	Salas et al. (1998)
Basques	45	Bertranpetit et al. (1995)
Andalusia (Granada province)	66	Present study^a	DQ081234–DQ081299
Balearic Islands (Majorca)	67	Present study^a	DQ081300–DQ081366
Catalunia	46	Côrte-Real et al. (1996)
Continental Italians
Sicily (Alia area)	49	Vona et al. (2001)
Northern Italy (Adige area)	67	Stenico et al. (1996)
Tuscany (Etruscan area)	113	Francalacci et al. (1996) (N=52); present study^a (N=61)	DQ081608–DQ081668
North Africans
Egypt	83	Krings et al. (1999)
Moroccan Berbers	59	Rando et al. (1998)
Algeria	85	Côrte-Real et al. (1996)
Morocco (Marrakech province)	52	Present study^a	DQ081470–DQ081521
Tunisian Berbers	155	Fadhloui-Zid et al. (2004)
Tunisia	47	Plaza et al. (2003)
Middle East
Middle East	42	Di Rienzo and Wilson (1991)
Turkey (Anatolia)	74	Comas et al. (1996)

^aBlood samples came from people originating, for three generations, from ten precise Mediterranean areas. Appropriate informed consent and information about birthplace, parents and grandparents was obtained from all participants. Genomic DNA was extracted using standard procedures, or a QIAmp Blood Kit (Qiagen, Courtaboef, France). The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable 1 (HVR1) zone was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the following primers: L15996 (5′-CTCCACCATTAGCACCCAAAGC-3′) and H16401 (5′-TGATTTCACGGAGGATGGTG-3′), generating a 445-bp amplified fragment (Perkin-Elmer DNA Thermal Cycler 9700). PCR products were visualized on a 2% agarose gel with ethidium bromide and Smart Ladder SF marker (Eurogentec, Herstal, Belgium). PCR products were purified using a QIAquick gel extraction kit (Qiagen). Double-stranded sequencing of the purified PCR products was performed using an Applied Biosystems Sequencer (ABI 3700 Perkin-Elmer). Each sample was sequenced with primers H and L (used for the PCR). The sequences obtained cover 360 bases, from L16023 to L16382 of the reference sequence (Anderson et al. 1981). Sequences were aligned using the program CLUSTAL W (http://www.infobiogen.fr/)

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